Still Crazy After All These Years / Pastor Dan Baumgartner
“If you want to put a bunch of Christians to sleep, talk about Jesus or the Bible. If you want to wake them up, mention the word ‘homosexuality...’”

Ministering in Mongolia
/ Anthony & Vita Trujillo
Greetings from Mongolia! Last year, when the two of us came to Mongolia with the Peace Corps, we really had no idea what to expect...

Beautiful to Me / Keith McMahon
I often wonder why it's so hard to accept the fact that God loves me just the way I am — why I feel I need to hide stuff from Him, from my community, from those who are around me to hold me accountable, why it is so easy to say, "There's no way someone so ugly, so full of sin, so broken — there's no way someone like me could possibly be beautiful in God's eyes...

Agros Uno: Blessing Amidst Storms / Patti Holman
May 10th hail and gusting winds came up suddenly on our friends in Honduras. Blessedly, no lives were lost and moreover, unity was renewed and strengthened as the villagers of Agros Uno repaired each other's shelters and saved their green pepper crop, which is flourishing...

Greetings from the Sandersons
It has been three years (hard to believe!) since we left Bethany and headed east to Princeton Seminary. Sarah and I wanted to offer a brief update on our continuing journey into ministry. We also want to express our profound gratitude to Bethany for having kept me “under care” these past years. ....

Bethany's Staff Plays Baseball / by Steve Lympus
So what do you get when you cross a softball, a sunny day, The Brothers K, and a Bethany staff meeting? A photo collage with some funny expressions you don’t normally see on staff members’ faces. Amazing what swinging a bat will bring out!

Dan cryptically asked staff members to wear sporty outdoor clothing and a sack lunch to our May 10 staff meeting…and before we knew it, we were at Discovery Park picking teams and on-the-fly batting order. The BPC Staff All-Star game was underway.

After several variations on the rules, some highly creative “chatter” from the field, and four edge-of-your-seat innings (we won’t mention which team won, or who hit balls out of the park), we were all snacking and listening to Dan read a church softball story from The Brothers K by David James Duncan.

We do thank God for beautiful days and a staff that laughs and plays together…next winter, we look forward to BPC Staff bobsledding.

Interim Staff Position
Bethany will have an opening for a part-time Discipleship Ministry Coordinator (interim) who would handle some of the Associate Pastor responsibilities during the 6-12 month search process. The job description is on the bulletin boards around the church, or contact Personnel Elder Brian Beaumont at brianwilliambeaumont@hotmail.com.

Children and Families
Summer Sundays for Children
begins June 25
9 am

• 2's & 3's
  Cherub Room all summer
  Theme: Bible Friends
• 4's & 5's
  Room 203 from June 25-July 30
  Theme: "God's Wonderful Creation"
• 1st-5th graders
  Room 202 from June 25-July 30
  Theme: "Caring for the world and for one another"

10:45 am

• 2's to early 4's
  Cherub Room Children's Church
  Theme: Old Testament Friends
• 5 year olds-senior high
  Attend worship with their families

Vacation Bible School Update
Mon-Fri, July 17-21, at Bethany
Children ages three through next year's 5th graders are invited to a fun-filled week of

• singing,
• crafts,
• hilarious skits,
• active Bible learning activities centered on the theme of "God's Amazing Love,"
• great snacks,
• wild and fun games,
• a special Thursday carnival,
• learning how they can support our Honduras missionaries

and much more!

If you haven't yet registered, do it quickly. As of May 17 preschool classes were filling quickly. More registration forms can be picked up at the 3 Howe office during office hours.

The congregation can help support this wonderful ministry. Here are just a few ways to help and the person coordinating that area. You may help 1, 3 or all 5 days.

Nursery
Help care for teachers' and leaders' infants and toddlers. Contact: Sara McMahon, ksa-mcmahon@hotmail.com

Bring snacks
Bring baked goods or fresh fruit for teachers on 1-2 days. Contact: Cindy Kegley, cjam33@comcast.net

Teachers & Assistants
Enjoy teaching a flock of children. A solid curriculum is provided with more than enough ideas for teaching. Other people will come up with crafts, lead the children in games, music and skits so you can concentrate on the teaching time. Contact: Dianne Ross, dianner@bethanypc.org

Prepare crafts ahead of time at a craft night.
Contact: Kylie Kypreos, kykypreos@seattleschools.org

Early drop off (9-9:30 am)
Contact: Dianne Ross, dianner@bethanypc.org

Pray for a group of children
(You can do this from afar.) Contact: Julia Sensenbrenner, jss361@comcast.net

Play with preschool children on the playground for recreation Contact: Caroline Plummer, cjhoye@hotmail.com

Help with Lunch Bunch (11:30-1 pm)
Contact: Jill Langer, langers@qwest.net

Help cook, serve and clean up the Thursday lunch
Contact: Dianne Ross, dianner@bethanypc.org

Be a youth helper
Contact: Jessica Elliott, elliott.jess@gmail.com

Please keep in your prayers this ministry, the planning team, the youth helpers, the over 100 adult volunteers, and all the children who will attend as they work hard this month to prepare for a great week of adventure and learning.

Senior high youth helpers and adult volunteers will have an orientation meeting Tues, June 20 from 7-8:30 pm in the Parlor. Those working at their first Bethany VBS come at 6:30 pm for a "basic training" prior to the main meeting.

During the month of August (and September 3)
9:00 am sermon release time for 4-8 year olds
Children join their families for worship, then leave for the parlor just before the sermon. They'll "debrief" what they experienced in the worshipping community, sing, hear a great story, then finish their time together with some time on the playground. Led by parents with the support of intern Heather Hutchinson.

Parent Teaching Duties
Parents are reminded to contact Dianne Ross by June 3 with their choice of date to serve in their child's class or nursery (or other age level preferred) this summer. This enables our great teachers to take the summer off and come back refreshed in the fall.

Parents who don't request a date will be assigned one. It is their responsibility to switch with another parent if the date does not work for them.

Schedules and resources will be mailed to parents in mid-June. Thank you to the many parents who have already requested dates.

On the Calendar
see interactive calendar for complete listing

Car-Free Sunday
June 4 and every first Sunday of the month through October
Leave your cares and your cars behind and take the slow route to church. Carpool, bus, bike, walk – your choice—but make it a celebration, not a chore. Meet friends for lunch, make it a family-and-friends outing to Seattle Center, the zoo, your favorite urban destination. And know you’re doing something good for our Earth.

Bethany's Annual Transportation Fair
Sun, June 4, 10-12:30 pm in the Parlor

Hybrids, biodiesel, Flexcar—how do you choose which way to go in your future? We’ll get to compare them all and talk with the proponents of each, right in front of Bethany at the annual Transportation Fair.

Exploring Theology Series
Easter Revisited: Believing in Resurrection
Sat, June 10, 9-11:30 am in the Parlor
led by Pastor Dan Baumgartner

• What did the resurrection mean for Jesus' first followers?
• What significance does it have for our future?
• How does it affect our lives?

Join in a time of reflection and discussion on a topic integral to the understanding of the Christian faith.

The Best Movie Night Ever:
The Wizard of Oz
High School Mission Trip Fundraiser
Sat, June 10, 6-9 pm in the Fellowship Hall
Bring your friends and family, and help raise donations for Bethany youth to participate in mission trips to Agros Uno in Honduras and Tylertown, Mississippi.

Museum Without Walls Mission Trip to the South
June 16-25
Learn about the Civil Rights Movement and discuss a Christian response.    

Youth Mission Trip 1: Tylertown, Mississippi
July 5-July 11 (primarily freshmen/sophomores)
We'll help the Spencer Perkins Center in Jackson repair damage done by Hurricane Katrina to houses, churches, and the community. We will stay at a church in Tylertown and work long days.  

Gold Basin Camping
July 7-9 at Gold Basin

VBS Son Treasure Island
9:30-noon July 17-21 for 3 year olds through 5th grade

Youth Mission Trip 2: Agros Uno, Honduras
July 23-August 1 (primarily juniors/seniors)

Let’s Go to Camp!
July 30-August 5 at Camp Firwood for 2nd-5th grade

Mission Trip: Kenya
August 10-26
Responding to the AIDS crisis.

KOA Camping
August 11-13  Lynden
With option to stay for the NW Fair Aug 14.

News & Notes
Births

• Jonathan Thomas Selby
  May 2, 2006 to Ryan & Kim Selby
• Jessie Renee
  May 11, 2006 to James Cosgrove & Celeste Compatore
• Noah Alan Singleton  
  May 13, 2006 to Matt & Allison Singleton

Dedications

• Henri Lucas Anderson Englehorn May 14, 2006
• Harrison Ettore Anderson Englehorn May 14, 2006
  sons of Jeffrey Englehorn and Tami Anderson  

Session Notes / Chuck McFarland, Clerk
Jo Ronde, pointed the group toward Christ by reading a passage on prayer written by Mother Teresa. Session spent some time discussing and deciding how to allocate the remaining funds from the old Foodbank. Additional business included setting June 25 on the calendar as the date for a brief congregational meeting as well as approving several moves within the Bethany membership rolls.

Brian Ives provided his final treasurer's report with some historical trend information on giving. The remainder of our time together was spent sending off those folks who will be leaving our session as their terms are up (or they are moving to Montana):

• Kimberlee Conway Ireton
• Brian Ives
• Steve Lympus
• Keith McMahon
• Cory Parker
• Jo Ronde
• Jennifer Steenstra
  

There was time for everyone to share what they appreciated about these servant leaders. We ended our session meeting in prayer for those departing.